From Rottweiler to Great Lover

[bones_IV]

What do you think?

Link

 

[Guar_Fan]

Its an interesting article. I am not sure I am ready to accept all of its pronouncements but its food for thought.

One of the self described “critical friends” of the pope declared: "He is not as bad as we feared, though not as good as we hoped. He has spent too long within the confines of the Vatican bureaucracy where he is surrounded with prelates who really don’t understand the world.

It mentions he is making changes slowly, which may or may not be due to his age and health.

It mentions that the 75 year old Cardinal Ruini (slated for retirement) has been given an indefinite extension as head of the Italian bishops. And contrasts it with the re-assignment of Archbishop Michael Fitzgerald (slated for becoming a Cardinal) out of his post as head of the Pontifical Council for Inter- Religious Dialogue.

There are both personal and institutional issues involved. Fitzgerald is soft-spoken and mild, but other Vatican figures, including Ruini, believe that he is “soft” on Islam.

Ruini’s approach, of demanding reciprocity from Islam e.g. demanding that Christians in Islamic countries receive the same freedoms that Muslims expect in Christian nations, seems to be reasonable.

The article speculates that Fitzgerald’s former post might be eliminated, which would downsize the importance that the Church gives to ecumenical dialogue. It mentions

In his job as Ratzinger the Rottweiler, he expressed fears that too much emphasis on dialogue could lead to a kind of doctrinal syncretism or blending elements of the various faiths together into what John Allen, the Rome correspondent of the National Catholic Reporter, described as “a kind of New Age pate agreeable to modern tastes.”

I am not sure what to make of it, since ecumenical dialogue doesn’t seem to have much relevance to our daily lives.

The article also mentions a blunder in 2000, which pre-dates Pope Benedict XVI. The blunder was of announcing the canonization of 120 Chinese saints on October 1st, which is the national day in communist China - this was viewed as a serious provocation by Chinese authorities.

Certainly, such mistakes need to be avoided. The article suggests that collegiality would help to avoid such tactical errors. It mentions that Pope John Paul II was not big on collegiality and hopes the the current Pope will consult more with local bishops.

 

[Eileen_T]

After John Paul the Great, do you think we are going to have Benedict the Beloved?

 

[Cradle]

Eileen T:

After John Paul the Great, do you think we are going to have Benedict the Beloved?

That would be beautiful.

But, realistically, it would have to be a short form for Benedict the Beloved of the Faithful, because he certainly isn’t loved by most others…